Supernova
by Sabere Commander
Summary: Goku, through the help of Goten and Trunks, learns about the world of Oneshot and is convinced to give it a try. He quickly finds himself stuck in a world where his power can't help him much. Thankfully, he's not alone because there's a cat person named Niko. Unfortunately, Goku soon learns that while he can return home anytime he wants-Niko can't. [DBZ/Oneshot(2017) crossover!]
1. Chapter 1

**.**

 **Supernova  
**

 **I**

" _Into the Unknown._ "

* * *

Somewhere in the vast vacuum of space, there was a planet called Earth. This planet was an oasis in the vast unforgiving place that is the universe. It should come as no surprise that many would kill and have killed to keep control over it. The planet was home to the strongest warriors in the galaxy and beyond. Of course, the presence of these strong warriors have also sparked the interest of even stronger opponents. It was for this reason that the warriors of Earth, dubbed the Z-Fighters, were typically training to grow stronger and more powerful. Oddly enough, the strongest of the planet's defends wasn't even an Earthling in origin.

No, the strongest being on the planet was a man named Goku. Father of two, loving husband, and strongest of the Son family, he was of an alien race known as the saiyens. He had defeated numerous evil beings in his life time and even made some allies from people who were once enemies. He was truly a remarkable person, that much was of no question. He held the power to obliterate entire stars in the very palm of his hands and he was a fighting genius! He was, without a doubt, the champion of Earth and its people.

That being said, it was of no small bit irony that he was facing one of the very few problems he couldn't solve with that power. The irony may have been lost on him but it certainly wasn't lost on others. Son Goku's youngest son had taken an interest in something besides training and playing with his friend. That last bit wasn't _completely_ true as he still spent a lot of time with his best friend, Trunks. Goku had taken to speaking with Chi-Chi, his wife, about the situation at hand. It troubled him to see his son investing so much time in, what he could only assume to be, an activity that proved useless in the long run. Naturally, Chi-Chi would have encourage him to leave their youngest to his devices; however, for once the Earth woman couldn't be in more agreeance with her alien husband.

Their son Goten was wasting his time and blowing his future away! If he had been doing something related to education or learning, she would have put her foot down. She would have even been lenient if he was just training or play fighting with his friend. Either of those scenarios provide some sort of advantage for life in the future. Unfortunately, the boy had taken to one of the worst possible things-in her eyes anyways. The boy was blowing off his studies and training for playing video games!

Chi-Chi was a close friend to Trunks' mother, who went by the name of Bulma. The woman was probably the smartest woman on the planet, if not then the second. She was the heiress to the largest company in the world too, the Capsule Corporation. Unfortunately for Chi Chi's poor little Goten, this meant the family had _copious_ amounts of funds for buying whatever they felt like. Typically, a call to the mother of the friend supplying the electronics would solve the problem. Unluckily for the son family, Trunks had more than enough ways to acquire video games due to his families status.

It was of no surprise that when Chi-Chi had told Goten explicitly not to play any more video games, until she told him it was okay to, he had gone and done so anyways. That had been the last straw for the mother, she was going to punish him good for blatantly ignoring what she said and disrespecting her in such a way. When Goku had come to her to express his concern over the lack of interest Goten was showing in him _and_ training, she had formed an idea. Goku would go to Bulma's house, see exactly what their son was playing, and then tell Chi-Chi. Then he would bring their son home, kicking and screaming if he had to, where Chi-Chi would be waiting with the proper punishment. Of course, she had neglected to tell him about the intended outcome. Goku was a big softy after all and would likely find some way to let Goten off the hook.

* * *

Goku had arrived at the Capsule Corporation head quarters, where Bulma Briefs and the rest of their family lived. The moment he was on the ground, he extended his sense to try and find his son. Luckily the boy was inside and, as expected, he was accompanied by Bulma's own son-Trunks. He didn't wait to let himself inside of the house. He and Bulma were friends since childhood, he was sure she wouldn't mind if he dropped by unannounced.

Fortunately, Goku didn't have to search for long before he stumbled upon his boy. They were in a sealed off room with Bulma's boy, Trunks. The room looked super sophisticated to most powerful saiyen. Even looking at it through the window in the door, he couldn't gleam and idea as to how it worked. It was for that reason, and a few others, that he sweat dropped at the motions his saw the boys using. The movements and such were what he would consider silly and, given that this was Goku calling them such, that was a problem. Goku shook his head to focus, he needed to get Goten and head home to Chi-Chi.

He knocked on the glass window on the door. They didn't respond so he chose to do so with more force. Unfortunately, the force was enough to has the glass fracture into spiderweb cracks. The sudden change caused the lights in the room to flicker briefly before everything shut down. Suddenly, with no warning, the door in front of Goku released a hiss of air before lifting up and outwards-forcing Goku to side step it.

"Aw come on! Trunks, what happened? I was just about to break my record!" The sound of Goten whining echoed from inside the chamber. It wasn't alone though, for their best friend was quick to reply with just as much confusion.

"I don't know Goten, the game just freaked out for a moment and then stopped. Maybe we were too rough with it and something broke." Goku didn't waste time and immediately stepped into the room. He quickly cleared his throat to let his presence be known. The two boys let their heads snap tot he sound because they hadn't expected to see or hear from anyone while they were inside.

"Hey kids, sorry I had to interrupt your little game." Goku told them both before turning his attention to his son. "Goten, it's time to go home to your mom."

"But dad! I was having so much fun."

"Sorry Goten but she's been getting really concerned about you." He told his youngest before turning and gesturing to the room they were in. "She thinks you're spending too much time in here and I'm inclined to agree."

"What do you mean?"

"Goten, did you even sense me when I came into the room?" He questioned his son, who could only look at the floor with shame. It was true, he hadn't even picked up on his dads energy signature until he hear him clear his throat. "Exactly, you're not studying and you're not training either." He finished telling his son, hoping they would see it from his perspective.

"Fine... I guess you're right... but dad?" Goten asked, looking up to their father's eyes. "Do you think you could at least try it out? I mean, I really like it and I think if you saw it-you might understand." Goten finished the final part of their sentence quieter than when he began. This made Goku raise and eye brow at his son's odd behavior. He decided to humor the young saiyen before he ruffled their hair and gave them his signature grin.

"Well, we still have to return home but I don't see how staying a little bit longer could be a problem." Goten grinned when he heard Goku say that.

The youngest child of the Son family quickly looked to their best friend, who nodded in return. Trunks went to calibrate the machine for another game to be played. While they did so, Goten quickly grabbed a pair of ear buds to give to Goku. The adult saiyen took them and put them in before smirking at his son. The young boy, Goten, was practically a carbon replica of him. The calibrations took just a few more seconds to set. During that time, Goku could only wonder what on Earth was so fascinating about the machine.

"There, all set!" Trunks had called from the command console. The lavender haired boy rushed back to the others before they gave Goku a strange headband.

"What's this?" He asked.

"That's a visor needed for the game, you put it on and it helps make the experience more immersive." Trunks explained. "You put it over your eyes like in some sci-fi movies." Trunks finished his explanation.

"Sci-Fi movies?" Goku said with a confused tone of voice, he had never seen a movie before.

"Science fiction movies, you know-with lasers and robots and stuff."

"Oh..." Goku glanced at the band that would be covering his eyes in but a moment. It had white trim with the majority of the band being black. He took a deep breath before pulling it over his hair and down onto his eyes. Goku waited for a moment before extending his senses, he could make out the scuffling of boots. He couldn't pin point exactly where it was coming from because the chamber seemed to make noise bounce off the walls. "Hey guys, what's going on-I thought we were going to play the game."

The sound of the entrance closing harshly touched his senses...

"What?"

A loud humming filled his ears and he could feel himself float off of the ground...

"Trunks? Goten?" He called out for the two young saiyens but received no answer.

Suddenly light flickered in his vision and he found ground beneath his feet. The entire area was creepily dark and rather unnerving, even for him. The darkness seemed to ripple like the surface of a pond when a stone is thrown into it. Soon the ripples gave way to distorted imagery, which quickly morphed into a rather meager looking house. A meager looking house that looked very odd to the powerful saiyen.

Goku took a moment to examine his surroundings and noticed something peculiar...

The floor was made from wooden boards but it was in a terrible state of disrepair. It looked like many of the boards had been broken or just removed all together. Beneath him was a very large rug that stretched to two things. A desk with some sort of machine on it, it looked like a computer from what Goku could gleam. Beside that sat a large book case filled to the brim with books. He couldn't make any of the titles out though, not with how little light was shining into the room. The light was moon light and it was coming from a closed window...

" _Where am I?_ " Goku had wondered once he had a good grasp on his environment. To his left was a door and behind him was also a door! The only thing he hadn't taken a good glance at was the bed with the light on it. Then again, he wasn't tired in the slightest and sleeping wasn't really appealing right now. He wanted to explore but, more importantly, he needed to find a way to talk to Trunks and Goten. He had never experienced anything like this so he was on edge.

"G-Goten? Are you there son?" Goku decided to check the door furthest from himself. The door had opened with a squeak and a click, which granted the saiyen access to a run down bathroom.

The bathroom was incredibly dark and incredibly difficult to see, even for a saiyen. The lack of light actually made it difficult to gleam any details outside of basic things. There was a sink with a mirror next to a toilet, a bathtub across from that, and a small pot in the corner of the room. Goku approached the sink and tried to make the water run. Unfortunately, the pipes seemed to have been all dried up and nothing came out. Goku glanced up at his reflection in the mirror, he could see his outline and a few features but details were lost in the darkness.

 _Son Goku, the strongest under the heavens and champion of good._

Goku blinked and a confused expression took hold of his face. Where had that thought even come from? The way the thought was formed was off, funny even-he didn't talk about himself as if he were another being. He stared at his reflection for a moment longer before moving away from the mirror. He took another glance around the room before deciding to leave it. If the water wasn't working in the sink, he doubted it would be working in the toilet or bathtub. He found himself back in the room he had appeared in.

Goku immediately headed for the only other door in the room. Maybe the rest of the house would have a clue as to where he was? He found his luck to have run out when he grabbed the handle and gave it a twist. The door remained locked and didn't budge in the slightest. He frowned before trying again, applying more pressure to the handle; however, the handle still held firm despite the superhuman force placed on it. Eventually the saiyen relented from trying to open the door. A nervous tick showed up on the surface when he scratched his head.

If he couldn't get out of the room, then what was he supposed to do?

Goku turned around and examined the room again. Perhaps he had missed something, like another way out or a key for the freakishly strong door? It was then that he took notice of something he hadn't seen before. Something was lying on the floor just out of reach of the moonlight. He approached it and picked it up, unable to make out anything other than the shape. He glanced at the window where the moonlight was spilling in. He quickly moved the object into the rays of light slipping into the room.

"A remote?" Goku mumbled out loud once he saw the object for what it was. Upon closer examination, he noticed every single button was missing _except_ for 9, 8, 1 and 4. Something he noted about the numbers was that they were all different colors. 9 was red, 8 was blue, 1 was yellow and four was green. Who would ever design a remote like this and why was it so busted up?

"I wish I knew what to do..." Goku said aloud to no one in particular. Whether he meant to speak to someone or not, it did not matter, for someone spoke back; although, it wasn't a reply one would have expected.

"H... Hello?..." Goku's head snapped in the direction of the other wall across the room. The voice, he was sure it was coming from someone over there. The only problem was that he couldn't actually see anyone over there. Was his mind playing tricks on him or was this the kids doing? Well, he was partially right with the last idea.

A pair of glowing gold eyes peaked out from behind something-it was too dark for Goku to make out. When Goku had noticed the glowing pair of eyes, his had immediately darted to them. The sudden zeroing in on them had cause the owner of the glowing eyes to retreat into the darkness. Goku just stared at where he had thought he'd seen the eyes. He waited, remaining as still as he could manage, and was eventually rewarded.

A pair of glowing golden eyes peaked out from the darkness again...

"Excuse me..." He said as softly as he could, the pair of eyes widened before darting back to him. They seemed panicked and it looked as though they were about to retreat again. "Please, wait!" Goku called out to the owner of those eyes. It seemed to have been effective at stopping them as the eyes froze, not moving, but not looking away from Goku either. "Just... hold on a second..."

"My name is Goku, I... I don't exactly know how I got here or where here is..." He told the glowing eyes, which didn't make a motion to respond. "Please, I don't intend to hurt you-I'm just confused is all." Perhaps it was the sincerity in his tone of voice, or something else, but it appeared to do the trick. The pair of eyes quickly clambered about and it was then that Goku came to the realization that whoever they belonged to had been in the bed in the corner of the room.

After a second of shuffling bed covers, a soft pair of thuds was heard. Then more sounds of bed covers being moved before the glowing eyes turned to him again. Slowly and with ever subtle taps, the figure behind the eyes approached Goku. The saiyen remained deathly still, concerned that he might frighten off whoever it was. It was only when they entered to moon light in front of him that he caught a good glimpse of who they were.

"Hi... I'm Niko..." They said aloud to the strongest saiyen alive. They wore a large brown jacket with sleeves to long for their tiny body. They also had a large purple scarf wrapped around their neck. They also wore the largest hat he had ever seen on a person, it was the same color as their jacket. Perhaps the most notable things were the cat-like features spread across them. Cat ears sat atop their head, slitted _glowing_ cat eyes, and what looked to be whisker marks on their face-not to mention their hair was the same color as the scarf around their neck.

"Hello Niko, it's nice to meet you." Goku told the cat person before he decided down to their height. He figured it would make him less intimidating as a stranger. "Do you know where we are Niko?"

"No... I just woke up in the bed... and you were here..." They said, a tone of unease seeping into their voice. This made Goku frown, they were clearly nervous-maybe even afraid, not that he could blame them.

"Well it's okay, we're going to get through this together." He said to reassure them, which seemed to work because they gained a small smile and nodded. Goku stood back to his full height and looked around the room again. "Now we just need to find a way out of here."

"What about the doors?" The cat person, Niko, had pointed to the door at the end of the room. Goku only shook his head in response to their question.

"No, that way leads to a bathroom and the other one is stuck good-I couldn't even get it open." Goku admitted to Niko, who merely raised an eye at his choice in wording.

"So... what haven't you tried?" The had asked Goku and it made him ponder. Was there anything he had neglected to do? Not exactly, he tried both doors, tried looking for a key of sorts, but ultimately failed at location something of use. Of course, there was the white thing on the desk but Goku had no idea how to work it.

"Well, you could try that thing on the desk." Goku pointed to the old and severely outdated computer. "I haven't used it but that's because I'm worried I might break something if I tried." Niko stared at him for a moment-after all, how difficult was it to turn on a computer?-before checking the computer.

A quick click of the power button and the computer started to boot up. Then screen flashed white before fading to an inky blackness. Then, suddenly, a group of 4 digits appeared on screen. Each one was a different color, blue, green, red and yellow. Above that, in white text, it read [Input Password:]. This resulted in Niko pausing to think over what the password could've been or where to get it. They quickly sighed when they couldn't come up with a good guess-which drew Goku's attention.

"What, what's wrong?"

"The computer needs a password to work." Niko answered before they moved to the side to allow Goku to see the screen better.

"Huh... I felt like I've seen something like this before..." Goku explained while rubbing his chin.

"You have?"

"Well, I feel like I have... I just can't place where..." Goku continued to rub his chin before slowing to a near halt. It was then a brief flicker occurred inside his eyes. Of what, it was impossible to know but it certainly had a positive effect on the saiyen. He quickly put his remote out in front of himself and found, much to his pleasure, the buttons were all color coordinated with the password. "Here, try this Niko!" He handed the little cat person his remote and stepped back. They seemed to study the remote and the screen for a moment before going to work typing on the keyboard.

"And there!" Niko cheered when they saw the computer process the code and reply with an _Access Granted_ message. Then, another flash of white from the screen and a desktop appeared. The icons and models looked extremely outdated, which served to make the computer look older than it really was. Goku himself never spent much time around computers but from the few times he had seen Bulma or his friends on them, he had seen what they looked like. Even with as little experience as Goku had, the screen icons and such looked a little _too_ simplistic.

All of this only served to make Goku wonder just how long the computer had been sitting there...

The screen was suddenly covered with a gray box. A blue stripe zipped across the top and a single icon with the characters "OK" was present at the bottom. For a brief moment the center of the box was lined with only dots. Then the box cleared everything, taking a moment to refresh its self, before making another message appear in the gray box. This one seemed like it was left for someone, maybe even intended for them.

 _You found me._

Niko blinked in confusion after reading the message. Who was the message referring to and who left it? Niko had never seen this computer, nor the room for that matter, in their entire life. There was no way that message was intended for them, so maybe it was for this Goku person that was with them? No, they doubted it was intended for Goku as he was apparently just as confused as them. Did that mean they had stumbled upon the message by accident and that it was meant for someone else? The computer had been locked with a password after all.

Goku was having a similar line of thought as Niko. Who was the message for and who left it? Was the machine actually talking to them at that moment? He doubted it but with his crazy luck, he wouldn't put it out of the realm of possibilities. The machine had been locked after all, so they probably stumbled upon something meant for someone else.

Both Niko and Goku paused when the message vanished, holding their breath when a new one loaded.

... _Why?_

"Why? Why what?" Goku couldn't help ponder out loud, not that it bothered the only other occupant in the room. Niko held a similar piece of confusion.

 _You're already too late.  
Not much of the world  
remains._

What...

Both Goku and Niko stiffened when the message appeared. What where they talking about, what happened to the world?

The rate at which the messages disappeared and reappeared had begun to increase...

 _This will be made apparent  
once you go outside._

Worry...

Goku felt worry growing inside of his chest, what was outside? Just what in the heck was going on?

 _This place was never  
worth saving._

Anxiety, fear, unease, and curiosity...

Niko couldn't help the sudden wave of emotions that hit them. Their breathing hastened while waiting for the next message to appear.

 _...Do you still want to try?_

What.. what kind of question was that?!

Who in their right mind wouldn't try and save the world? What did it mean it was never worth saving?! He had put his life on the line countless times for Earth. The lack of hope, of belief, coming from the person in the messages was disturbing to the champion of Earth...

 _Then, remember this:_

Remember...

Remember what?

 _Your actions will  
affect Niko._

Wait, what?

Just who were the messages for?

Who's actions were going to affect them?!

 _Your "mission" is  
to help Niko leave._

Was...

Was this thing talking to him?! He was the only one there besides little Niko!

 _And most importantly..._

Pause.

Pause...

The machine took extra long to churn out the next message. Perhaps it was for the best as the recent string of messages had just rocked the two occupants inside the room. It was clear now the messages _were not_ meant for Niko but... if they weren't meant for them, then who were they meant for? The only other person in the room besides the cat person was Goku and he hadn't the slightest idea of how to operate a computer! What was happening to the world and how were they both involved in it?...

A final hum came from the large plastic box next to the monitor. The sound of air being forced out of vents in the back filled the room, covering up the quick breathing of the two inside... Then the last message appeared...

 **You only have one shot,**  
 **Kakarot.**


	2. Chapter 2

**.**

 **II**

" _Isolated but Not Alone_ "

* * *

Kakarot...

Kakarot was a saiyen name, _it was his saiyen name..._

How the hell did the person leaving those messages know his name? Goku felt his breathing quicken and his skin become cold. He didn't know where he was or what was going on. He didn't know what this was either but there was something he did know. Goku knew that he didn't like it and wanted out, _now._ The only question that remained, how was he supposed to leave this... this world... _this game?..._

A small whimper pulled on his attention away from himself. The sound was coming from the child sitting right beside him. It was strange, amidst his initial panic, he had completely forgotten about the child. It was at that time that a thought permeated inside of the saiyen's mind. They were in a strange place, just like him, and had no idea what was happening, just like him, nor did they probably want to be there, _just like him._ It was then that Goku considered the possibility of the child being in the same position he was in. Had a cruel twist of fate actually lead him there, so that he may help the child through a struggle they couldn't have possibly done on their lonesome?

It was then that Goku realized something, he was no longer trying to find an escape just for himself. He needed to find a way for them to escape too, he wouldn't let them rot here-not if he had anything to say about it!

"Hey..." Goku said to them and had placed his hand on their shoulder. It should have been a reassuring gesture but, instead, it only made the jump from their spot. "... don't worry about it, we're going to be fine and that's all that really matters right now." He showed his best reassuring smile to them to cheer them up and it worked. They returned the gesture with a, smaller, smile of their own.

The sound of a lock clicking and undoing echoed in the room...

"What in the world?" Goku said quietly after he heard the sound. He turned around and faced the only door that had been locked. The sound must have come from the other side, which meant someone had to be in the next room. If there was someone there, then perhaps that meant he could obtain some answers. He turned back to the cat person, Niko, and gave a reassuring smile. "I'm going to go check what that was, you should wait here in case it's something dangerous." They adopted an anxious expression on their face.

"Are you sure, I mean, what if you get hurt?" Niko had asked him and the worry showed on their face. Them being worried about his safety actually made Goku chuckle, subconsciously that is. As long as he kept his guard up, there wasn't really anything that could harm him. None the less, he rubbed the top of their head affectionately before he stepped to the door.

"Don't worry, I'm pretty strong. I think I can protect my self if I need to, I just don't want you to get hurt if something happened." Goku had admitted is reasoning for asking the cat child to wait behind. He didn't wait for them to respond because he opened the door and quickly stepped through. The room was dark, very dark, and his eyes actually had a tough time adjusting. "Woah, I don't think I can see with how dark it is in here." He complained to himself, which received a response from Niko.

"I can see in the dark!" They had called out to him from the doorway. Goku glanced around the dark room before turning back to his companion.

"Niko, what do you mean?" He didn't continued speaking further as he saw something that stunned him.

In the doorway stood a cat eared child with glowing yellow slitted eyes...

Goku had lived an adventurous life for as long as he could remember. From his search for the dragon balls to his training under Master Roshi. He had seen many a thing that would just seem out or out of this world. Heck, he'd even fought his _alien brother_ and the _evil alien emperor_ that he worked for. He had traveled to a whole other planet and then back to Earth. He had even been to Heaven and Hell, yet that young child's eyes still surprised him. Maybe it was because he hadn't noticed it before or perhaps it were that the eyes were captivating to look at. In any case, he should have really focused more quickly because Niko had been calling his name.

"Goku? Are you alright?"

"Huh?" He blinked his eyes when he focused back on the situation at hand.

"You sort of stopped and... just spaced out... are you okay?" Niko had told him before asking of his well being.

"Um... yeah, I was just surprised for a moment..." Goku explained before checking around the room. The door had been left open and, thankfully, some of the moon light was allowed to spill in.

"Surprised? What surprised you?" Niko continued, which drew Goku's attention. He paused once he caught himself staring at their eyes. A nervous tick of his made its self evident when he rubbed the back of his head.

"Well, it was your eyes." He told the cat boy... girl... which was it again?

"My eyes? How did they do that?"

"Well... you see, I've never seen any kind of eyes like yours before." Goku told them, taking note of how the eyes lit up a small space around their face. "When I saw yours, I didn't know what to think of them. Though, if you were to ask me, I'd say they're pretty cool." Goku finished his explanation and waited for their response.

He waited for a few seconds before he felt a small shred of concern form. Had he said something weird and made things awkward again? Chi-Chi had always told him to be mindful of what he said. He had certainly hoped he didn't, especially not with the situation they were in. Goku felt the need to apologize for making things weird but, before he could utter a single phrase, he was cut off by Niko.

"You're a nice person Goku."

That... was from out of the blue...

" _Or I guess you can say unexpected..._ " Goku thought.

Niko had gone back to looking around the room they were in. Goku couldn't see all of it but he was certain it was much bigger than the last one they were in. What little Goku could make out was the outline of a couch and wooden boards on the floor. Occasionally, he would see a flicker of Niko's eyes from when they would walk around. Goku remained at the doorway and stared into the darkened room for some time. Then, as if he were struck by lightning, he cried out.

"Huh? What happened?" Niko asked from somewhere further into the room. Goku couldn't resist the grin that spread across his face.

"I think I just figured out a problem to our light situation!" Goku said merrily to the cat child with him in the darkness.

"What do you mean?" Niko asked him from somewhere closer than the last time. He slowly saw their glowing eyes fade into view from that darkness encompassing them.

"Just watch, it's a skill I learned a long time ago." He told them but his confident grin morphed into one of embarrassment. "Actually, it seems like so long since I actually used it last-it's a wonder I even still remember it." He rubbed the back of his head again once he realized how lucky and foolish he was. There was that nervous tick again, he really needed to do something about that.

"So..." Niko droned on and let the sentence hang in the air.

"Oh yeah, here goes nothing." He said aloud before sticking an arm into the darkness. He gave a grunt of exertion before letting out a deep breath. He concentrated for another moment before relaxing. Tiny streaks of light had shot through the air all around his arm before gather a few inches above the palm of his hand. The light had quickly clumped up enough to form a decent sized ball of yellow light. Goku let out a sigh of relief when he noticed it stabilizing-that had been harder than he expected.

"Wow..." Came an awe struck voice from beside him. He looked and found Niko staring at the glowing orb with their cat like eyes.

"Neat huh?" Goku told them with a care free tone, as if the feat was nothing spectacular. Niko shook their head and got closer to the orb floating in Goku's hand. He had to admit, now that the light was shining on their face, their awe struck expression was downright adorable.

"It's so bright... and warm..." They mumbled out like they were on autopilot before the tried to get closer and touch the orb.

"Woah, slow down there." Goku told them after he pulled the orb out of reach from the small cat child. For once, Goku was thankful for his impressive height he'd taken foregranted in the past. The orb being jerked away from the quickly seemed to have been what was needed to snap Niko out of their dazed state. They blinked their eyes and shook their head quickly after. When they regained their bearings, they glanced at the orb and then Goku.

"Sorry, I don't know what happened. It was just... so pretty and warm-" Niko would have continued to apologize and give excuses if Goku hadn't interrupted them.

"It's okay, it's all fine-really." Goku reassured them before looking to the ball of light in his hand. "It's a good thing that you didn't manage to touch this though." That comment had caused a puzzled expression to appear on Niko's face.

"A good thing? Why?" Goku stopped staring at the light to look at them. Goku seemed to space out a loud, Niko remembered thinking.

"Oh?... Oh right... Well you see, this little thing is made of something I call ki." He waved the ball of light around in the air, which created streaks of light following the path he moved it. Niko nodded their head to show they understood what he said so far. "Well, ki is kind of like pure energy and can be used to do cool things-like create this ball of light." Goku tossed the ball into the air a few times before letting it rest in his palm. "The catch is that, if it isn't handle properly, ki and be very dangerous." Goku finished and turned his head to the cat child, who looked a tad bit fearful of the once mesmerizing ball.

"Dangerous?" He could hear it, even if they didn't intend for it to come out, the uncertainty in their voice.

"Yeah but luckily for you, I'm an expert in it!" He let his family's signature grin show before he stuck his free hand out and gave the kid a thumbs up. They seemed slightly calmed by his displayed confidence.

"You're... an expert?"

"Yeah, you can do all kinds of things with ki and you can even start a fire. That's probably why you felt the warmth from this in the first place." Goku explained before he gestured to the light in his hands. Niko seemed to stare over it for a second or two before snapping their fingers. They turned and rushed off into a darker area before they called back to Goku.

"Over here Goku, I think I saw a fire place." He didn't wait to follow after them, a fire place would probably provide more light anyway-not to mention he'd get to stop burning his ki for the little light source.

It didn't take long to find Niko and the aforementioned fireplace...

"Right here, it should start a fire right?" Niko asked with an excited tone in their voice. What reason would there be not to be eager to see ki in action for the first time? It created light, was very warm, and apparently could be created out of thin air if one learned how to use it. All of those things and the idea of having a brighter room to look around in were motivation enough to have haste.

"Alright then." Goku said aloud before putting his hand forward. Unlike before, where he would cradle the light in the palm of his hand, this time he made a shoving motion. The way the ball of light react was like magic to the cat child. The ball flew forward almost too fast for their cat like eyes to follow. Then it hit the dried up wood in the fire place and disappeared. Niko would have frowned and thought it hadn't worked, had it not been for flames of white flicker on the wood.

The fire bellowed and large flames erupted before it settled back down. Glowing white flames danced over the wood like no normal fire should. The white fire also seemed to emit a fair amount of light too as even Goku could make out the room clearly. A broken and sparking T.V., a counter top with a sink, some furniture, and a single door close to them. Goku immediately headed over to it to test it out and see if he could open it. In all of his curiosity and talkativeness, he had completely forgotten about the idea that _someone had to have unlocked the bedroom door._

"Goku?" He heard Niko say his name but he made no response. Instead he immediately began testing the door's strength. The new door was as strong as the old door, the more excessive force he applied to it, the more he could feel the handle give way. It was slow, a little bit of locks forcing, slipping, and scraping reached his ears. He let out a grunt, how was a door so resistant that he needed a power boost to break it?

"Hey Goku, do you need help?" He let go of the door, the handle moving into place as if he had never once touched it. It was oddly disturbing to see it sort of repair its self on its own. He turned around and faced his companion, Niko, and was ready to see what they had to offer him. They gave a rather... odd... _smile..._ before handing him a key. He looked at it and examined it but could only find one note worthy thing on it, the text reading: _Basement Key._

"Maybe it can help, I saw it sticking out of the floor boards. The light was shining off of it." The told him and, for the most part, they seemed very pleased with themselves. Goku wouldn't deny that he was sort of pleased with them too. He ruffled their hat and their hat, which elicited a yelp from them, before turning around to the door. He used the key and, much to his surprise, the door opened fine with no problems. All that accompanied it was the satisfying clicks of the lock undoing.

Was it just him or was everything starting to seem sort of like a puzzle?...

The door opened up and it revealed a stair case leading down into complete darkness. If Goku had to make a guess on where the stairs lead, he would have thought the basement. With a flick of his wrist, he created another ball of ki to float around him and Niko. The orb of light, just like the previous one, gave off warmth that helped sooth the experience. The two of them slowly made their way down the stairs, Goku taking lead the whole way. When the reached the bottom of the steps, Goku found himself scratching his head. There was nothing there, the path just ended a few feet from the last step.

Then he saw it...

There, at the bottom of the stair case, was a light bulb resting on the ground. The light bulb wasn't a normal one, or at least not the kind he had seen before. It was abnormally large and was almost the size of his ki ball. He could also make out coils on the inside of it, something he'd never been able to do with any other plain old light bulb. He blinked before picking it up and bringing it closer to his face. Once he had done so, the light bulb didn't the strangest thing-it reacted to him.

A soft white glow emitted from the bulb, one brighter than even his ki ball. Goku had to actually catch himself when he almost dropped the bulb. With how light weight it was for its size, he was sure the glass had to be thin too. That would have meant it probably would have shattered if he had dropped it. Something zipped through him when he thought of that, it was almost as if the mere thought was horrifying... which was strange... It was just a light bulb, wasn't it?

"What is it Goku?" The voice of Niko had called out from behind him. They had notice the light appear and were curious as to what it was. Ironically enough, while they were seeking answers, Goku wasn't sure he had the answers. Something didn't seem right about the light bulb, something was off, he could just feel it. What it was or might have been though, Goku could never say for certain.

"It's some sort of... light bulb..." He had said slowly to the cat child. He took one last quick glance before turning around and showing it to Niko. The cat person stared at it in wonder, much like when he had first made his ki ball. They slowly allowed their arm to creep out to touch it. Then, as if bitten by a spider, the yanked their hand back and looked to Goku.

"Wait, it's not dangerous-is it?"

"Dangerous?" Goku prodded them to explain what they meant. Why would it be dangerous if he was holding it just fine? Maybe even of more importance, where had they even got the idea it might be dangerous?

"Well... it's just... The last time there was a ball of light, you said it was a dangerous." Niko explained and, roughly, retold Goku's comment about mishandling ki.

"Oh..." Goku mumbled, having understood what they meant, before smiling. "Well, you see-this isn't made of ki. It's just a plan old light bulb that turns on when you touch it." Goku brought the bulb closer to Niko's face and let them examine it for a moment. "I touched it and nothing bad happened, so I don't think anything bad will happen if you touch it." Niko stared for a moment longer before they nodded in agreement with Goku's reasoning. They slowly took the bulb from Goku's hands and watched it.

"Huh, I guess you were right." They said quietly before looking, with amazement, at the bulb. It's contents seemed to have shift quickly and wildly. The once pure, blinding, white light had slowly been enveloped in streaks and trickles of yellow light. Eventually the white light was swallowed whole by the yellow light. While certainly pretty, perhaps the most interesting thing was the nearly as bright yellow light it gave off.

"That's pretty cool, it changed its color." Goku scratched his chin after he had said that. That light bulb certainly was... different...

"Yeah, I've never seen something like it before." Niko commented while still staring into the bulb.

"Wait, you've never seen a light bulb?" Goku asked and a bewildered expression crossed his face.

"What? No... I've never something _like this_ before." Niko replied and shook the bulb in their hand. The extra emphasis they had put on the bulb seemed to allow Goku to make the connection. Niko took a moment to look back to the light bulb before peaking around Goku's leg too look behind him. "If there's nothing else here, maybe we should go back upstairs?"

"Yeah..." Goku mumbled before he glanced behind himself. That was it, there was nothing else in the stair case other than the light bulb. Why was it down there all by its lonesome in a spot where it would have been easy to accidentally step on? More important than that, what was the purpose for the bulb being locked up at the bottom of the stairs? It was all just so strange and... meaningless to Goku, it was almost as if someone was trying to trap someone else inside of the house.

By the time Goku had finished his recounting of the strange situation, he had realized they made it into the room with a fire place. He paused and took a moment to actually examine everything with the light from the bulb adding to the brightness of the room. Had it really been a living room the entire time? He noticed Niko walk around a corner and fade from his site, which left only the light from the bulb to leak back into the room. He closed the door behind himself before looking for another way out of the strange house.

Behind him sat the door to the empty stairwell and he was in the living room. To his right was the fire place, a couple of couches, and a the door to the first room with the computer was just a bit further away. Straight ahead of him was some poorly lit spot and then there was the room Niko had gone into. He glanced into it and saw a counter going across the room, was it a kitchen or something? A small gurgle made its way from his stomach and he was reminded of what he was doing before he appeared in the house with Niko.

He thought about how Chi-Chi had made him go to retrieve Goten. Then he thought back to how Goten and Trunks putting inside of the game. He hadn't heard from them for several minutes and he couldn't deny that he was becoming concerned. Was the game supposed to make someone feel isolated and alone? He wondered when he would get to talk to them again or how soon he could leave the game... the game...

Calling this place a game just seemed wrong to Goku. Everything felt and sounded so real to him-and that wasn't even starting on his ki senses going awry. He couldn't sense Goten, Trunks, or anyone he knew after he appeared in the house. Sure, he could sense little Niko's ki signature, but that was hardly the strangest thing about the house. It may have been very faint but he could sense another ki source coming from somewhere. He just couldn't pin point where it was coming from, it had reminded him of a rather dark time.

When had contracted that heart virus that nearly did him in. It reminded him of those moments of struggle and the disorienting feeling that washed over him. If he had to describe it, it would be as if the ki was a fog coming off of someone. He would look around and sense the ki but he couldn't exactly find where the person was that was emitting it all. It plagued his senses every time he tried to look for ki, which actually proved nauseating for the saiyen.

"Hey Goku." Niko's voice stirred him from his thoughts _again._ What was up with him slipping into his thoughts that day?

"What is it Niko?"

"I think we should leave, I couldn't find anything in the kitchen." They explained to Goku but, as soon as they finished talking, there was another gurgling coming from his stomach. The baffled expression on Niko's face made Goku chuckle. "What was that? I've never heard a stomach so loud..."

"Yeah, that's because I have a really big appetite. My friend Bulma said something about having a strong metal-o-wizdom, whatever that means." Goku tried explaining it but it only made the child more confused.

"When I'm hungry, I usually ask my mom to make me pancakes." Niko admitted to the saiyen.

"Really? What's a pancake?" When Goku had asked them that question, Niko had gasped in horror. How did he not know what pancakes where?!

"You... You don't know what pancakes are?" They asked him to be sure they were on the same page. When Goku shook his head, the cat child took on an adorable look of shock. "How have you never had a pancake before?!" Goku chuckled and rubbed the side of his head, why was Niko so animated about these pancakes?

"Well, maybe if you described them to me-I might know what they are." Niko quickly recovered from their surprise at the idea of having _never_ eaten pancakes before. They quickly took to explaining the rich and fluffy food.

"Well, they're really good and soft!" Niko started off their explanation with a not to informative description. "They're really skinny and are shaped like circles." Niko then proceeded to show an outline of just how big they usually where. "Momma usually puts them on top of each other before pouring syrup on them-"

"Syrup?" Goku interrupted their explanation of the, admittedly, delicious sounding food. Niko froze for a moment before the cat ear atop of their head twitched, or at least Goku swore he saw it do that.

"You don't know what syrup is either?!" They practically screamed that at him and he was forced to message his ear.

"Um no? Is that a big deal?" Niko only stared at him, eyes wide in completely disbelief, before they fell back onto the floor. Thankfully they had landed on their back and the light bulb harmlessly rolled off and onto floor beside them. "Uh Niko!" Goku rushed over to them and extended his ki senses again. He ignored the wave of nausea that hit him and focused on the kid. When he felt their ki he sighed in relief, it was calm and that meant they were just unconscious. He blinked when the room quickly darkened and he was left with Niko in pitch black.

Just as quick as the room had darkened, it lit up again. The source of light was another ki ball hovering over Goku's hand. He looked down to Niko and the bulb, which had grown dark once again. He wasn't keen on the idea of staying for too much longer in the weird place they were in. Then again, he wasn't keen on leaving Niko there to fend for them self either.

A flicker...

Goku turned his attention to his ki ball and noticed something strange. The ball had begun to move in an odd fashion and its shape distorted. Then, again, the light flickered before becoming brighter again. Seeing this made Goku frown in response to it all. The ki ball was running out of ki and he would need to pump more into it soon. If he kept that up, then he would eventually find himself exhausted. Do not be mistaken about what it meant though.

The ki ball took up hardly any ki to maintain and was a handy technique. By comparison, he could power thousands of those little things with his massive reserves of ki. The complications arose from how rusty he was at using the technique. Much to his dismay, neglecting practice of the technique had lead to him not getting the most efficiency out of it. The ball was far dimmer than it use to be when he first mastered it. That and it took up far more ki, at least triple the amount it had consumed in the past, to create and maintain it. If he didn't figure out how to leave the house and soon, then they might be in trouble-he didn't have anything to eat either, which only meant he'd lose ki quicker.

The brief flicker of the bulb caught his attention. It looked like it was trying to power on but wasn't getting enough juice to finish. He narrowed his eyes before bringing his ki ball closer to examine it. The bulb's flickering grew more rapid and it was even staying on for fractions of a second before flickering off. Was... was this thing reacting to his ki? It was then that Goku remember how bright the light bulb was when he picked it up the first time. He also remembered how he wasn't burning ki like with the ki ball technique either.

He reached out and plucked the bulb off of the ground. It was almost instantaneous when the bulb lit up like a high powered flashlight. He could feel it though, a slight pull and strain on his ki. The bulb was feeding off of his life energy, which was oddly disturbing for him. He glanced back down to Niko's unconscious form before focusing back on the bulb. If the bulb truly did leech ki out of the hold to create life, then perhaps it wasn't a good idea to let Niko hold it-regardless of how little it was.

He let his ki ball fade out of existence before getting a firmer grip on the bulb. He then proceeded to throw Niko over his shoulder. He was determined to get out of there and, if what Niko told him about the kitchen was true, there was only one way left to go. With Niko on his shoulder and the lit bulb in his other arm, Goku made his way to the shadowy corner of the room.

Much like the rest of the house, this area was barren. Wooden floor, typical walls with normal wall paper, a very large rug and then a door. The door was probably the most interesting thing about the whole side of the room. It was a dull gray with an indented portion and a strange hole in it. Goku squinted at the ridiculously large key hole in the door. It was impossibly large, he could probably fit his whole fist into it, who would be carrying a key that large around-and that was another thing, there was no door handle either!

Goku frowned before glancing at Niko on his shoulder. Yes, there was no doubt about it-the house was definitely starting to feel more like a puzzle. The only thing he had on himself, besides his fists, was the light bulb and he didn't really like the idea of stick his fists into the dark whole without knowing what it did. He took one last glance at the bulb before gently placing it in the whole, which it fit perfectly into.

The room suddenly was plunged into darkness... but then the entire room was filled with a blinding light...

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 **Niko and the World Machine**

 **-chapter OST-**

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 **Before your go:  
**

I have a question, would anyone be offended if I started using female gender pronouns when talking about Niko? I view them as a sweet little girl and it would certainly make writing for them easier. By the way, how do you feel about the story so far? Tell me what you think in the review section and I'll get back to you.


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